Spending a day at City Hall

STEVE BROMBERG

When I stepped down as mayor this past December, Tod Ridgeway took

over the helm and asked that I continue on as the “council

columnist.” His reference was to the number of articles I had sent in

to the Pilot during my mayoral term. I thanked him for that showing

of confidence and referenced that it would be my pleasure to continue

on.

This article is not so much about what’s going on with city

government, however, it very much relates to why our city is truly a

world-class venue for quality of life. Every year, the Newport Beach

Chamber of Commerce sponsors many student-related events. One such

event is the Student Mentor Program. This event matches up Newport

Beach high school students with members of a profession that a

student is considering as a future. The 2004 event occurred Thursday.

I was contacted by Linda Handy of the Chamber of Commerce, about a

month prior to the event, asking if I would participate this year as

a mentor as a 16-year-old junior from Newport Harbor High School who

had an interest in local government and politics. Well, since all of

these students are truly our future, I was very excited to

participate.

The program started of with breakfast at the Radisson Hotel at

7:30 a.m. There were about 60 to 65 students, all matched up with

their mentors. Just about every profession or occupation you can

think of was represented. It was an interesting mix. There were

nurses from the coronary care and intensive care units from Hoag

Hospital with two young ladies who were considering a career in

nursing. A photographer, a graphic artist, two chiropractors, a

police officer, a firefighter and a member of the Coast Guard were

mentoring students. Even S.J. Cahn -- the Daily Pilot’s managing

editor -- was mentoring two students who had expressed an interest in

journalism. There were many other professions and occupations

represented.

My student mentee was Tyler Blackney from Newport Harbor High

School. A fine young man who is a 4.0-grade-point-average student who

really isn’t sure yet of his career direction, however, politics was

on his list. I told him I was going to write an article and that I

wouldn’t embarrass him “too much.” Sure, Tyler.

After self-introductions and some directions, all of the mentors

and mentees headed out in different directions with strict orders for

all of us to return at 12:15 p.m. for lunch and critique. Tyler and I

headed for City Hall. I had alerted staff about a week before the

event, as I wanted to be sure Tyler had a firsthand opportunity to

see how local government really works, and meeting with department

directors was important to accomplish this. We did that and then

some.

We met with City Manger Homer Bludau, who spent a good deal of

time explaining how our city organization is structured and how the

city manager works with his staff, the City Council and the public.

He also met with Dennis Danner, our administrative services director.

Danner is the one who is the gatekeeper for our city funds -- income

as well as expenditures. We then moved onto Marilee Jackson, the city

public information officer, who discussed press releases, as well as

communication from the city to the public. Tyler also met with

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff, who discussed our city role in

water quality issues. This was significant to Tyler, as he is also

working toward his Eagle Scout with an irrigation project.

We went on to our City Clerk, LaVonne Harkless, our Human

Resources Director, Diana Axley, Public Works Director Steve Badum,

Fire Department Support Services Manager Terry Ulaszewski and City

Atty. Bob Burnham. Tyler also had an opportunity to interact with

other support staff at City Hall.

We also spent some time in City Council chambers so that Tyler

could have a firsthand look at how we functionally operate from the

dais. As an added attraction, it turned out that this was the same

day that contract negotiations were about to commence in the council

chambers conference room between the city and the marine safety

officers. You know these folks as our lifeguards. Tyler had a chance

to say hello to John Adams, the labor negotiator for the lifeguards.

In my continued efforts of trying to be a good statesman, we took our

leave, as a council member should not be anywhere near that type of

event. They started to work their magic after we left.

In my overzealous effort to leave no stone unturned, I did want

Tyler to meet with our planning and building department directors,

however, we ran out of time, as each of the meetings with staff were

quite comprehensive and Tyler had many outstanding questions.

We returned for lunch and the critique. A number of students,

including Tyler, shared their experiences of the day, and the mood

was definitely up beat. One of the students who was interested in law

enforcement rode around with one of our police officers. Wouldn’t you

know it, a disturbance call came in which resulted in an arrest by

the mentor officer while they were out in the field.

Hearty congratulations to all of the mentors and their students

for participating in this highly productive event. The same goes for

the school principals, teachers and counselors who all helped to make

this happen. A special congratulations and thanks to our Newport

Beach Chamber of Commerce and its very caring staff for putting this

event on year after year and for inviting me to participate.

These kids really are our future, and how fantastic is it to give

them something other than a job description to read when thinking

about a career that will impact the rest of their lives. It was only

a half-day event; however, what a half-day it was. Each and every one

of these students had an actual hands-on experience that may well

change their lives.